Instant messaging (“IM”) and chat rooms have become common ways for parties to communicate online. IM and chat rooms allow parties to have real-time or near real-time conversations via computers linked by communication networks, such as the Internet. IM and chat rooms were previously limited to transmitting text messages. These messaging services have evolved to transmit other types of information (e.g., documents, hyperlinks, audio, and video), and can include graphic environments (e.g., virtual conferences, augmented reality services, and immersive online worlds), and social networking systems.
A chatbot is an artificial intelligence that can participate in IM and chat room conversations. Because chatbots can converse using natural language, their messages can be substantially indistinguishable from those of a human. As a result, chatbots can unobtrusively provide value-added services (e.g., weather, location, news, calculators, dictionaries, and the like) to parties in IM and chat room conversations.